I'm back from my vacation to the US, the jetlag has mostly passed, so back to OSNews it is! So, Windows 8 has been out for only a little while, and we're already moving on to the next 'version' of Windows. Version is between quotation marks, because unlike previous releases, this doesn't appear to be the a monolithic single release. Instead, Windows Blue, as it's currently codenamed, is more of a procedural change than a technical change: Windows is moving to yearly releases for all devices - PC, tablet, phone.

Rolling releases such as in Arch, Gentoo, Sabayon or Debian Sid are great. But - they require attention. Windows users don't want to live on the bleeding edge. Otherwise they wouldn't use Windows, would it?

Rolling releases such as in Arch, Gentoo, Sabayon or Debian Sid are great. But - they require attention. Windows users don't want to live on the bleeding edge. Otherwise they wouldn't use Windows, would it?

Although I believe more frequent releases from Microsoft is a good thing, I don't think this counts as rolling releases.

There's a very simple way to test if something has a rolling release development: if it has a version number then it's not rolling release. For example:

What version of Windows are you using? (example: Windows 7)

What version of Mac OS X are you using? (example: 10.6)

What version of Arch Linux are you using? (example: Right now)

What version of Gentoo Linux are you using? (example: Last Tuesday?)

Rolling release software has no support for "older versions" because there are no older versions. The only version is "now". I assume this won't be the case with Microsoft, whether you're running Windows 9 or Windows 2018.

Correct, the only version is the"now" version. But it is possible to NOT update our even to "roll back" to and older version.

The advantage its that improvements and security measures are distributed immediately to the users, so the system is always up to date and safe. But, the downside is there is extensive testing done, so breakages can happen. In which case the user must for instance "roll back". This requires an amount of attention and know how that the average user is not prepared top spend on his machine.

A nice compromise would be have the choice: "roll" or update for instance every month.